The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Touch hole, barrel length and pressure loss.

reinert · February 18, 2021, 11:53 AM

Read post #3 again, and again, and please don't make the mistake of comparing modern pistols and loads to anything relating to black powder firearms; just don't. Shoot your pistol, or rifle for that matter, over some fresh snow sometime, and you'll see the unburned powder laying out there from an overcharged load. If you can't find any snow, law an old white bedsheet out in front of the muzzle and check that out after shooting an overloaded charge. Try it, the unburned stuff will be there. An ODG once said that the best load for a black powder firearm is when ALL the powder is burned from a shot, and no more than that (wasted powder; what's the point?). Another ODG said that half the ball's weight (patched round ball talk here) is a good starting point for a RIFLE'S load. Work up or down on a charge from there. Again, just a comment regarding the use of BLACK POWDER.

I've got a .54 cal. flint pistol with a 6" barrel that shoots very well using 30 grns. of 2FG standard GOEX. I've never shot the pistol over the snow to check for unburned powder, and with a patched ball weighing 230 grns., my charge is WAY, WAY less than half the ball's weight, but again, it shoots very well. I use that same .54 ball in my flint rifle and have found that 80 grns. works very well in it, with wonderful accuracy, and with enough punch to shoot through a whitetail deer at 80 yds. standing BROADSIDE through both lungs (did that a few times). To me, it's what works, and what has worked for all the good info I've gotten through the years from fellow black powder shooters/hunters who've always loved to share info, especially after a hunting season. And I always shared mine...

I've been shooting both flint and percussion, traditional styled rifles since 1975, and have used nothing but black powder and the patched round ball in doing so, EXCLUSIVELY; no Pyrodex, no anything else except the good ol' standard GOEX powder (2 and 3fg), and now lately, I've been playing with Swiss 1.5fg). I've had wonderful, fine friends through the years that have shared info and history on black powder firearms; some have "gone home," and I cherish the ones I still have. Matter of fact, I'm going to shoot with some of the "Old Guard" this weekend!

February 18, 2021, 11:53 AM	#10
reinert Senior Member Join Date: September 28, 2008 Posts: 646	Read post #3 again, and again, and please don't make the mistake of comparing modern pistols and loads to anything relating to black powder firearms; just don't. Shoot your pistol, or rifle for that matter, over some fresh snow sometime, and you'll see the unburned powder laying out there from an overcharged load. If you can't find any snow, law an old white bedsheet out in front of the muzzle and check that out after shooting an overloaded charge. Try it, the unburned stuff will be there. An ODG once said that the best load for a black powder firearm is when ALL the powder is burned from a shot, and no more than that (wasted powder; what's the point?). Another ODG said that half the ball's weight (patched round ball talk here) is a good starting point for a RIFLE'S load. Work up or down on a charge from there. Again, just a comment regarding the use of BLACK POWDER. I've got a .54 cal. flint pistol with a 6" barrel that shoots very well using 30 grns. of 2FG standard GOEX. I've never shot the pistol over the snow to check for unburned powder, and with a patched ball weighing 230 grns., my charge is WAY, WAY less than half the ball's weight, but again, it shoots very well. I use that same .54 ball in my flint rifle and have found that 80 grns. works very well in it, with wonderful accuracy, and with enough punch to shoot through a whitetail deer at 80 yds. standing BROADSIDE through both lungs (did that a few times). To me, it's what works, and what has worked for all the good info I've gotten through the years from fellow black powder shooters/hunters who've always loved to share info, especially after a hunting season. And I always shared mine... I've been shooting both flint and percussion, traditional styled rifles since 1975, and have used nothing but black powder and the patched round ball in doing so, EXCLUSIVELY; no Pyrodex, no anything else except the good ol' standard GOEX powder (2 and 3fg), and now lately, I've been playing with Swiss 1.5fg). I've had wonderful, fine friends through the years that have shared info and history on black powder firearms; some have "gone home," and I cherish the ones I still have. Matter of fact, I'm going to shoot with some of the "Old Guard" this weekend!